Doris Pilkington Garimara, the author of Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence, has died at the age of 76 in Perth.

The stolen generations writer had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September and died on Thursday evening, surrounded by family.

The book shared the story of Pilkington Garimara's mother's 2000km journey by foot across the Australian outback to reunite with her own mother after escaping from a re-education camp for mixed race children in 1931. She and two other girls had been snatched from their family in a remote settlement in Western Australia as part of the government's attempt to eradicate "half-castes".

The account of the lives of the three indigenous girls, Molly Craig, 14, Daisy Kadibill, 8, and their cousin Gracie Fields, 10, was made into an award-winning film, Rabbit-Proof Fence.

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Pilkington Garimara's only surviving daughter, Bernadine Pilkington said her mother had "made a huge impact on not only our lives but on the lives of many Australians. We've lost so much."

She said her phone had not stopped ringing, with "everyone saying how much of a positive impact my mother had on their lives, particularly with reconciliation."

Phillip Noyce, who directed the 2002 adaptation of the novel, paid tribute to Pilkington Garimara, who was credited as a co-writer of the screenplay.

"Doris rose above the insecurity of forced separation and a childhood spent in Western Australia's infamous Moore River Native settlement to share with the world her mother's epic struggle to find her way home," Noyce told Fairfax Media from New York. "Doris' contribution to our understanding of Australia's previously hidden history cannot be overstated."

The hard-hitting movie was voted best film at the 2002 AFI Awards and is on school curriculums around the country.

Pilkington Garimara is survived by four children, 31 grandchildren and 80 great grandchildren. The family had taken Pilkington Garimara to the Pilbara three weeks ago to say farewell to her ancestral home. "It was her last wish, to see the countryside one last time," Pilkington said.